Democrats on Wednesday sharply criticized a Republican National Committee fundraising document that caricatured President Obama as the Joker, while Chairman Michael S. Steele sought to distance himself from it.
Also depicted were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), presented as Cruella de Vil and Scooby-Doo, respectively. The three Democratic leaders were gathered under the heading "The Evil Empire."
The cartoonish images were part of a 72-page PowerPoint presentation assembled for potential campaign donors and fundraisers.
The document was obtained by Politico after being left at a Florida hotel where the Republicans had gathered Feb. 18.
The presentation also outlined how donors will be encouraged to give to Republicans at a time when the party holds neither the White House nor Congress: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!"
It cites "fear" and "extreme negative feelings toward existing administration" as reasons why donors might contribute to the GOP.
Said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse: "If you had any doubt, any doubt whatsoever, that the Republican Party has been taken over by the fear-mongering lunatic fringe, those doubts were erased today."
You can view the entire PowerPoint presentation here.
Much of the presentation seems to be a breakdown of Democratic and Republican congressional and gubernatorial seats for the 2010 race, and marketing and fundraising proposals. On Page 30 of the presentation, the question is asked, "What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate?" The answer is to "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!" And on Page 31 of the presentation, there is this:
GOP PowerPoint slide characterizing President Obama and Democratic leadership as part of an "Evil Empire." Again, I look at this slide, and I see a GOP party leadership sliding into stark lunacy. The Republican Party cannot seem to enter into an election debating policy issues--they have to incite fear by coloring President Obama's head as the joker, or redraw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Cruella DeVille. The Republican Party is becoming a party of childish crackpots.
What is even more ironic is how the Republican National Committee reacted with alarm, when asked to comment on this presentation by Politico:
The document, which two Republican sources said was prepared by the party’s finance staff, comes as Chairman Michael Steele struggles to retain the trust and allegiance of major donors, who can give as much as $30,400 a year to the party.
[....]
The 72-page document was provided to POLITICO by a Democrat, who said a hard copy had been left in the hotel hosting the $2,500-a-head retreat, the Gasparilla Inn & Club. Sources at the event said the presentation was delivered by [RNC Finance Director Rob] Bickhart and by the RNC Finance Chairman, Peter Terpeluk, a former ambassador to Luxembourg under President George W. Bush.
The RNC reacted with alarm to a question about it Wednesday, emailing major donors to warn them of a reporter’s question, and distancing Steele from its contents.
“The document was used for a fundraising presentation Chairman Steele did not attend, nor had he seen the document,” RNC Communications Director Doug Heye said in an email. “Fundraising documents are often controversial.
“Obviously, the Chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable. It will not be used by the Republican National Committee – in any capacity – in the future,” Heye said.
I love the hypocrisy within the Republican Party. First Communications Director Heye claims that "Fundraising documents are often controversial." And now Heye claims that this particular fundraising document will never be used in the future? Excuse me, but it has already been used in a meeting. And if the presentation was not leaked out, I'd guess that it would still be used--the RNC Finance director and Finance chairman both delivered the presentation, and obviously saw the cartoonish drawings. I'm sure they both got a laugh from it. Now, suddenly the GOP finds the language and imagery unacceptable--only after it was revealed in public, and shows just how clownish the Republican Party has become.
Incredible.
Update: RNC Chairman Michael Steele attempted to defend the PowerPoint documents on Fox News, saying the images were pulled off the internet. What is even more amazing is when Fox News' Megyn Kelly gently tried to ask Steele who was responsible for these documents, Steele pleaded, “Can we not raise this to the level of the health care debate? Please? This is an internal matter,” From YouTube:
Translation, we fucked up--Now shut up!
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